A storm. A disappearance. A race against time . . .Mustique is in a state of breathless calm as tropical storm Cristobal edges towards it across the Atlantic. Most villa owners have escaped the island but a few young socialites remain, unwilling to let summer’s partying end. American heiress Amanda Fortini is one such thrill-seeker – until she heads out for a morning swim and doesn’t return. … and doesn’t return.
Detective Sergeant Solomon Nile is just 28 years old and the island’s only fully trained police officer. He quickly realises he needs to contact Lord and Lady Blake, who bought the island decades ago and have invested time, money and love creating a paradise. Jasper is in St Lucia designing a new village of luxury villas but Lady Veronica (Vee to her friends) catches a plane immediately. Her beloved god-daughter, Lily, is on the island and this disappearance has alarming echoes of what happened to Lily’s mother many years ago. Lady Vee would never desert a friend in need, and she can keep a cool head in a crisis.
When Amanda’s body is found, a murder investigation begins. Nile knows the killer must be an islander because flights and ferry crossings have stopped due to the storm warning, but the local community isn’t co-operating. And then the storm hits, and someone else disappears . . .
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Wow! This book is incredible! It is mysterious, engrossing, intriguing, full of twists and turns, and so much more! Whenever I picked up “Murder on Mustique”, I was whisked away to the island of Mustique, put on my sleuthing hat, and went on quite the journey with this story.
I first heard about the island of Mustique, as well as this book after reading Lady Glenconner’s book “Lady in Waiting: My Extraordinary Life in the Shadow of the Crown.” I love reading about royalty, and learned more about the island of Mustique as well from watching the TV series “The Crown”! When I heard that Lady Glenconner was writing a mystery set on the island, a place that, she, herself, has spent a lot of time on, I just knew I needed to read it! Oh my gosh, I am so glad I did! Lady Glenconner’s storytelling is simply spectacular, and she makes each and every element spring off of the page before the reader’s eyes. I truly felt like I was right there on Mustique, as I could really see and envision the sights of the island. Each location is described so it is vividly clear and each character is so distinct. Every interaction and conversation felt so authentic and real, and pushed the plot forward in one way or another. Lady Glenconner’s passion for writing is so clear, and, as the reader, this made me not want to put the book down. I was hooked from the first page to the last.
After Lady Veronica (Vee) gets a call from her goddaughter Lily, that her (Lily’s) friend Amanda did not show up to plans they have made and is missing, Vee immediately flies to the island. Upon Vee’s arrival, she sees not only that Amanda has disappeared, but Lily believes she has been followed home, and more crimes begin to occur at an alarming rate. On an island where everyone knows each other, and there is one policeman, suspicion begins to fall on more than one possible suspect as more and more clues show up. Will Detective Sergeant Solomone Nile and Vee be able to catch the criminal, or criminals, before more people get hurt or die? Are the crimes completely separate, or are they connected somehow? Are the crimes connected to years before? If so, how? Are the signs pointing in one direction specifically, or are the clues trying to throw everyone off? You will need to read this book to find out.
If you enjoy mysteries, I highly recommend this book! It had me turning the pages to see what would happen next, and I thought I had the murderer, or murderers figured out quite a few times…and I most certainly did not. Each piece of the puzzle falls into place in the exact moment it needs to, and the mystery slowly starts to unravel to the reader. I truly was kept guessing up until the very end. I will not spoil anything in this review, but, I will simply say, my mouth dropped in shock quite a number of times, and I am eagerly awaiting Lady Glenconner’s next book!
Thank you so much to Mobius Books for the review copy of this book, it is amazing! All opinions expressed in this review are my own.